Bobber Basics
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May is one of the best months of the year for fishing. It is the time of
year I turn my attention to bluegill fishing, mainly on the beds.
Sometimes the bites we get on the beds are very easy to spot as the
angry bluegill hammers the intruder. A lot of the time it is very subtle,
leaving little tell tale sign that the bait has been touched, unless you
have your bobber set up correctly.
I am sure all, or at least most of us have learned how to fish, or was
introduced to fishing by simply putting a worm on a hook, throwing on
a split shot and a bobber, and waiting for a willing bluegill to attempt
to take your bait. So what kind of bobber were you using? Was it
one of those red and white round bobbers? How about one of those
skinny spring clip on bobbers? Well, if you are using either of those,
then you are using the wrong kind of bobbers and I will tell you why.
Bobbers are used to hold the bait up off the bottom, and to detect a
bite. Your goal here is to have the slightest touch of the fish to your
bait signal you. In order to accomplish this feat, you need to have
your bait and your bobber balanced. The slightest touch or tug
should pull your bobber under. Those big red and white bobbers are
just plain too buoyant for anglers to add enough weight to accomplish
this feat.
The spring type bobbers are wrong for one reason and this is a very
big reason. The springs damage your fishing line. Not everyone is as
nuts as I am and has a fishing rod and reel setup for every different
thing they go after. I have a pole that all I use this thing for is fishing
the gills on the beds. So if the spring bobber damages my line and it
finally breaks while I am fighting a fish, I am just out a bluegill. Still
aggravates me. If you are like some of the people I fish with, you have
a few poles and they go with you when you go. That pole you used
for bluegills could be the same pole you are casting that 15 dollar lure
at bass with. Now when that 5 pound largemouth makes a jump and
then dives and breaks your line where your spring bobber was, you will
not be a happy camper.
Now what about those clip on bobbers with the weight on the bottom
of them? I know you are wondering about those. After all, they have
no springs to damage the line, they have the added weight to get the
casting distance you need, and when you are using crickets without
split shot, it helps to get the cricket in the right area. True, the
weighted bobbers will be pulled under the water more easily than the
other kinds of bobbers. You won't have to add a split shot when
fishing in about a foot of water. But I have one question for you.
How do you know when you have a bite when the fish grabs your bait,
and swims up with it. A bobber that isn't weighted will lay over on it's
side when this happens. A weighted bobber will act normal under that
circumstance.
Don't get me wrong, I love the weighted bobbers. But there is a time
and a place to use them correctly. When I am casting for silvers
during their run and doing some vertical jigging from the top down, I
use weighted bobbers. It adds to my casting distance and the
aggressive behavior of the silvers makes the weighted bobber issue
irrelevant.
With the numbers of panfish anglers that are out there, and the
numbers of panfish that are caught each season, I will focus my
attention to catching these tasty fish and what kinds of bobbers that
you should be using. If you have spent a lot of time on the water, you
probably have seen a great many different types of bobbers in use.
What makes you a success when bobber fishing is understanding the
basics of bobber fishing.
You ever seen your bobber bob a little bit and then stop? How about
your bobber does a little dance and stops? One mistake a lot of
people make when fishing for bluegills is they don't understand how
the fish feeds. They will inspect the bait and when they decide they
want to eat it, they will suck it into their mouths. Trouble is, they
don't have the power that a big bass is going to have. As they try to
suck that bait into their mouths and you have that big bobber on your
line, all you are going to see is that little dance. What you have
interpreted as "getting a bite" or "getting a nibble" should really be
said as "I am using too big of a bobber and just missed another big
tasty bluegill that should've been in the live well by now".
It comes down to science. The float, whichever kind you are using,
takes so much force to pull it under. If the bluegill is trying to suck
that cricket into it's mouth and can't do it because it isn't exerting
enough force to move the bobber so it can eat the cricket, then it will
eventually give up. The easier we make it for the fish to feed, the
more success we will have. This article will give you some insights into
bobber fishing and how to be more successful at it.
Spawning bluegills and crickets are a winning combination. A lot of the
time I am fishing in water that is 18 inches or less. I should say most
of the time. I don't like to use a lot of weight in these situations, so I
like to use the mini shy bite bobbers. They have a black band, like a
small rubber band, that pins the line to the bobber at the top and at
the bottom of the bobber. This does no damage to your line and
changing depths is pretty simple. I have one suggestion before going
out after your bluegills this spring.
Test your bobber's buoyancy!!! Go pick up a package of two of these
bobbers (MSB4-2 or MSB5-2 are the ones that I prefer to use), they
will set you back a couple of bucks, and test how buoyant they are.
Get a clear pitcher or something that you can put in a couple feet of
water into. A foot will do, but I like using my 5 gallon pail, so I usually
go with two feet of water. Take out some fishing line, slide on one of
these bobbers, affix it to your line with the two bands, and then tie on
your cricket hook. Now pinch on your smallest split shot. Keep
adding shot until the bobber sinks. If it took 3 split shot to sink your
float, then you will want to go with 2. Unless you are using really big
split shot. We are dealing in 1/32nds and 1/64ths here. There is one
more thing I would do once I have my buoyancy all figured out and I
am out there by the spawning beds. I would bait up, and then drop
my set up over the edge of the boat and see how much of a difference
the cricket makes. It shouldn't make that much of a difference, but
you will need to know.
Now with your bobber set up perfect in the water, the slightest tug on
your bait will cause your bobber to drop. If the fish picks up the bait
and moves upward with it in the water column, then your bobber will
lay on it's side and you will know that a fish has your bait. This will
help you put more fish in the boat and have you saying "missed it" a
lot less.
year I turn my attention to bluegill fishing, mainly on the beds.
Sometimes the bites we get on the beds are very easy to spot as the
angry bluegill hammers the intruder. A lot of the time it is very subtle,
leaving little tell tale sign that the bait has been touched, unless you
have your bobber set up correctly.
I am sure all, or at least most of us have learned how to fish, or was
introduced to fishing by simply putting a worm on a hook, throwing on
a split shot and a bobber, and waiting for a willing bluegill to attempt
to take your bait. So what kind of bobber were you using? Was it
one of those red and white round bobbers? How about one of those
skinny spring clip on bobbers? Well, if you are using either of those,
then you are using the wrong kind of bobbers and I will tell you why.
Bobbers are used to hold the bait up off the bottom, and to detect a
bite. Your goal here is to have the slightest touch of the fish to your
bait signal you. In order to accomplish this feat, you need to have
your bait and your bobber balanced. The slightest touch or tug
should pull your bobber under. Those big red and white bobbers are
just plain too buoyant for anglers to add enough weight to accomplish
this feat.
The spring type bobbers are wrong for one reason and this is a very
big reason. The springs damage your fishing line. Not everyone is as
nuts as I am and has a fishing rod and reel setup for every different
thing they go after. I have a pole that all I use this thing for is fishing
the gills on the beds. So if the spring bobber damages my line and it
finally breaks while I am fighting a fish, I am just out a bluegill. Still
aggravates me. If you are like some of the people I fish with, you have
a few poles and they go with you when you go. That pole you used
for bluegills could be the same pole you are casting that 15 dollar lure
at bass with. Now when that 5 pound largemouth makes a jump and
then dives and breaks your line where your spring bobber was, you will
not be a happy camper.
Now what about those clip on bobbers with the weight on the bottom
of them? I know you are wondering about those. After all, they have
no springs to damage the line, they have the added weight to get the
casting distance you need, and when you are using crickets without
split shot, it helps to get the cricket in the right area. True, the
weighted bobbers will be pulled under the water more easily than the
other kinds of bobbers. You won't have to add a split shot when
fishing in about a foot of water. But I have one question for you.
How do you know when you have a bite when the fish grabs your bait,
and swims up with it. A bobber that isn't weighted will lay over on it's
side when this happens. A weighted bobber will act normal under that
circumstance.
Don't get me wrong, I love the weighted bobbers. But there is a time
and a place to use them correctly. When I am casting for silvers
during their run and doing some vertical jigging from the top down, I
use weighted bobbers. It adds to my casting distance and the
aggressive behavior of the silvers makes the weighted bobber issue
irrelevant.
With the numbers of panfish anglers that are out there, and the
numbers of panfish that are caught each season, I will focus my
attention to catching these tasty fish and what kinds of bobbers that
you should be using. If you have spent a lot of time on the water, you
probably have seen a great many different types of bobbers in use.
What makes you a success when bobber fishing is understanding the
basics of bobber fishing.
You ever seen your bobber bob a little bit and then stop? How about
your bobber does a little dance and stops? One mistake a lot of
people make when fishing for bluegills is they don't understand how
the fish feeds. They will inspect the bait and when they decide they
want to eat it, they will suck it into their mouths. Trouble is, they
don't have the power that a big bass is going to have. As they try to
suck that bait into their mouths and you have that big bobber on your
line, all you are going to see is that little dance. What you have
interpreted as "getting a bite" or "getting a nibble" should really be
said as "I am using too big of a bobber and just missed another big
tasty bluegill that should've been in the live well by now".
It comes down to science. The float, whichever kind you are using,
takes so much force to pull it under. If the bluegill is trying to suck
that cricket into it's mouth and can't do it because it isn't exerting
enough force to move the bobber so it can eat the cricket, then it will
eventually give up. The easier we make it for the fish to feed, the
more success we will have. This article will give you some insights into
bobber fishing and how to be more successful at it.
Spawning bluegills and crickets are a winning combination. A lot of the
time I am fishing in water that is 18 inches or less. I should say most
of the time. I don't like to use a lot of weight in these situations, so I
like to use the mini shy bite bobbers. They have a black band, like a
small rubber band, that pins the line to the bobber at the top and at
the bottom of the bobber. This does no damage to your line and
changing depths is pretty simple. I have one suggestion before going
out after your bluegills this spring.
Test your bobber's buoyancy!!! Go pick up a package of two of these
bobbers (MSB4-2 or MSB5-2 are the ones that I prefer to use), they
will set you back a couple of bucks, and test how buoyant they are.
Get a clear pitcher or something that you can put in a couple feet of
water into. A foot will do, but I like using my 5 gallon pail, so I usually
go with two feet of water. Take out some fishing line, slide on one of
these bobbers, affix it to your line with the two bands, and then tie on
your cricket hook. Now pinch on your smallest split shot. Keep
adding shot until the bobber sinks. If it took 3 split shot to sink your
float, then you will want to go with 2. Unless you are using really big
split shot. We are dealing in 1/32nds and 1/64ths here. There is one
more thing I would do once I have my buoyancy all figured out and I
am out there by the spawning beds. I would bait up, and then drop
my set up over the edge of the boat and see how much of a difference
the cricket makes. It shouldn't make that much of a difference, but
you will need to know.
Now with your bobber set up perfect in the water, the slightest tug on
your bait will cause your bobber to drop. If the fish picks up the bait
and moves upward with it in the water column, then your bobber will
lay on it's side and you will know that a fish has your bait. This will
help you put more fish in the boat and have you saying "missed it" a
lot less.